Monday, November 30, 2009

Cloud Computing: A Security Analysis

A More Detailed Look at Cloud Computing Security Risks

Start-up companies, small businesses, mid-size and even large enterprises are interested in cloud computing. As a result, all of these potential users should be extremely interested in cloud computing security. A good starting point for assessing the risks in cloud computing is identifying all of the existing risks that cloud users from individuals to the largest companies and even governments encounter. Specific threats to security include:

1.Failures in Provider Security

In a cloud environment, all security depends on the security of the cloud provider. They control the hardware and the hypervisors on which data is stored and applications are run. Cloud provider security must be top-of-the-line.

2.Attacks by Other Customers

The cloud environment is shared among customers. If the barriers between customers break down, one customer can access another customer's data or interfere with their applications.

3.Availability and Reliability Issues

Cloud data centers are generally as reliable as enterprise data centers or more so. However, outages do occur. Also, the cloud is only usable through the Internet so Internet reliability and availability is essential.
Read Full Article Here: http://cloudcomputing.sys-con.com/node/1203943